Upon its establishment in 1948, Israel extended a hand of peace. In response the armies of six Arab countries invaded Israel, in collaboration with Palestinians. Other annihilation attempts followed. In 2000, 2001 and 2008, Israel offered the establishment of an independent, contiguous Palestinian state living in peace with Israel, but the Palestinians rejected these offers.

The latest upheavals in the Arab world expose the extent of extremism: Election of the radical Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, bloody civil war in Syria, ruthless control of Gaza by the Hamas terror organization whose charter calls for Israel's obliteration, Hezbollah terror organization control in Lebanon, Iran's calls to "wipe Israel off the map" as it rapidly approaches nuclear weapon capability, the Palestinian Liberation Organization's preconditions to restart peace negotiations.

This is the bad neighborhood where Israel, the size of New Jersey and the only true democracy in the Middle East, must survive. An unbiased analysis of all involved parties would reveal the real impediments to the resolution of this conflict.